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Vayeira: Our Salvation Is Born from the Impossible
Sara, the wife of Avraham, is known to us as ‘Sara Imeinu,’ Sara, our mother. Sara’s primary identity is not only as the mother of Yitzchak, but the mother of the whole Jewish nation. Interestingly, Sara only became a mother at the age of 90 and she passed away at 127. For most of her…
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Lech Lecha: The Significance of a Name Change
In lashon hakodesh, a name is not merely a label, but a reflection of one’s inner essence. Indeed, Rav Paysach Krohn points out that embedded in the word neshama is shem, meaning name. A name is truly the soul of a matter. In Parshat Lech Lecha, Hashem changes the names of Sarai and Avram to…
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Who was Naama, the wife of Noach?
There is a Midrash1 which takes each line of Eishet Chayil – King Solomon’s beautiful alphabetical poem about the Jewish woman – and aligns it with different righteous women throughout Tanach. This includes the Imahot, Yocheved, mother of Moshe and Chana, mother of Shmuel. Contained inside this Midrash is the name of Noach’s wife: Na’ama.…
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Bereshit: Chava, Uncovering Women’s True Essence
Bereishit is all about beginnings, foundations, conception. The first day on earth, the first person, the first relationship – it all starts here. Certainly in this parsha too we can find the blueprint of who we are. Chava’s soul is the root of ours, her feminine energy is the source of ours and her nature…
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Ha’azinu: Tapping into the Holy Dew
Parshat Ha’azinu is a song filled with poetic language about the Jewish people’s journey with Hashem, and the ups and downs throughout their history. The Torah takes us back in time to our days in the desert, reflecting upon Hashem’s desire for us as well as criticizing us for complacency and times we abandoned our…
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Nitzavim-Vayelech: Circumcision of the Heart
וּמָ֨ל ה אֱלֹ-הֶ֛יךָ אֶת־לְבָבְךָ֖ וְאֶת־לְבַ֣ב זַרְעֶ֑ךָ לְאַהֲבָ֞ה אֶת־ה אֱלֹ-הֶ֛יךָ And Hashem, your G-d will open your heart and the heart of your descendants to love Hashem your G-d… (Devarim 30:6) This verse describes the closeness that will be achieved between Hashem and the Jewish people following their teshuva (return), to righteousness. An interesting word is…
